Avalon Management, Hillsboro

After Alder Creek closed, Jody went in search of a barn to lease and move the boarders of Alder Creek and her own horses. She found a barn called West View Stables on Kaiser road that had 15 stalls. She moved all the horses there and managed the barn while expanding her lesson program. She went from 10 students to 60 students over 4 years. The barn was very stable and happy. The vets and farriers said it was the happiest barn they visit with no gossip or drama which is very prevalent in the horse world. Now that the students were growing up and getting their own horses, Jody started taking her students to local horse shows and coaching them.

After these four years, the owner and his wife decided they wanted to move to California so Jody had to move her boarders and her riding program again. She moved to Rock Creek Stables off of Phillips Road that had 20 stalls and two arenas. This set up was a little better because Jody was now leasing the barn from the owner and the boarders were paying Jody instead of the owner. The riding program stayed at 60 students and they continued to go to local shows and the occasional higher level hunter shows. Jody started hosting her own OHJA certified shows at Rock Creek, breaking into show management. At year four, Jody’s daughter Jessica left for college.

After the fifth year at Rock Creek, the owner decided she wanted to manage the barn herself so Jody moved her program to a barn much further away called Rain Dance. She was no longer managing the horses and instead just paying board. She started renting out the Clark County Fairgrounds to host her OHJA shows, which she did twice a year. After a year the owners changed and the new owners started charging for arena use and inserting other fees. Jody took her horses to a friend’s house where she lives and the clients horses moved to another barn.

This is when the business started failing. The property the lesson horses were at only had an outdoor arena which meant they could not ride in the rain. Jody’s assistant trainer took over the clients at the new barn and Jody’s program dropped down to ten students. With both her daughters graduated and no barn to call her own, Jody looked for opportunity elsewhere.

The vet she had been using for the last fifteen years was injured on the job. With a broken hip and dislocated shoulder, he was in need of an assistant who was capable and horse knowledgeable. Jody offered her help and worked with him for five years. He is still the vet we use today. Jody taught a little on the side from her home and started teaching a few clients at Abbey Creek Stables in 2013. Her friend Shelley Rayhawk had bought the barn in 2004 and was managing and living at the barn with her family. In 2014, Jody brought two lesson horses into Abbey Creek Stables and taught a little bit.

Meanwhile, Jessica went to college as an astrophysics major for three years and then changed majors to Science Education/Physics Option with a Computational Mathematics Minor for the next three. She graduated in 2011. During college she tutored math and science for three years and interned in physics classrooms for two as required by the college.

When she graduated she taught at a high minority, high free and reduced lunch high school. She taught Regular, Honors, AP B and AP C Physics for five years and also managed the largest club on campus, the National Honor Society.

In June 2016 Jessica returned from Florida and breathed new life into the program. It started at fifteen students and by December was near 45 students. By December 2017 the program was at 60 students with five clients with their own horses. In 2017 Avalon Management hosted three baby horse shows, the first one in barn, and the second two had one outside stable join the show.

Avalon Management continues to grow its family. As our clients start to buy their own horses we will start to take them to small shows in dressage and eventing. Eventually moving up to bigger and better shows. We would also like to start growing our own shows to other beginner barns in the area to help get all the beginning riders used to competition in a friendly and easy going event. We have started doing end of the year awards and are hoping to have a yearly summer BBQ too! Hope to see you around!